Israel has deported tonight 150 Sudanese who entered the country illegally in search of work, media reports indicated. According to the reports, they left aboard a chartered aircraft for a third country before then being repatriated, without specifying the transit destination.

The illegal immigrants, who had agreed to leave "voluntarily," would be given "a small sum of money to start a new life in their home country," the media reported.

The repatriation was being carried out by the foreign and interior ministries "with the support of the United Nations."

Last month, the Israeli government approved the creation of a detention center near its southern border with Egypt to house thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa seeking work in the Jewish state.